US State Department Backs Patriot Missile Sale to Turkey

On December 18, the U.S. State Department announced its proposal to Congress for a $3.5 billion Patriot system sale to Turkey. The DSCA press release reports that Turkey plans to procure 80 Patriot MIM-104E Guidance Enhanced Missiles (GEM) and 60 PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhancement (MSE) missiles. The package also includes four AN/MPQ-65 Radar Sets, as well as other launching stations and control systems. According to an unnamed State Department spokesperson, the sale will allow “the Turkish military to guard against hostile aggression and shield NATO allies.” This announcement follows several years of increasing tensions between the United States and Turkey under President Tayyip Erdogan.

Missile Threat brings together a wide range of information and analyses relating to the proliferation of cruise and ballistic missiles around the world and the air and missile defense systems designed to defeat them. Missile Threat is a product of the Missile Defense Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

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